I’ve been offering tele-health in my private practice since the turn towards Covid living mid-March. Suddenly changing the structure of how/when/where I work was like taking a hard left turn when my foot was on the gas to plow forward. Whip-lash didn’t emerge until a few weeks later. My vision blurred, my head ached, my energy plummeted. Tele-health took its toll, or was it the thrust into pandemic living, the loss of infra-structure for family life, the reverberations of anxiety and fear throughout the entire world? Hard to tell- a lot happened at once and highly-sensitive people, like myself, tend to feel it all.
I’ve hit my Covid wall- more than once- and I haven’t even had the virus. But in a way we have all been infected- it’s everywhere. The social, emotional, physical and relational effects of Covid have penetrated every aspect of society. In my circles I hear less anxiety about getting the virus and more concern over who and what will be effected if I get the virus. Vulnerable parents, friends, family-members could be in danger. Quarantining could mean loss of work, relationships or social and learning opportunities for kids. There is so much to think through all.the.time.
As we near the inevitable end of summer and the start to a great unknown school year Faces and Bodies are on my mind. When we meet online we loose the embodiment of in person communication. When we meet in person we loose the fullness of verbal and non-verbal communication that un-masked faces convey. Either way we are fragmented and working harder to make up the difference. I am exploring out of the box solutions to bring faces and bodies back together to work safely and therapeutically amidst a pandemic. Trying walk and talk therapy, transparent masks, whatever I can think of to support the integrative work of therapy during a fragmented season. I know educators are doing the same. Learning is embodied for kids. How do educators safely support learning in a time such as this?
So many questions amidst a sea of unknowns.
I heard a benediction this morning that held a strange and paradoxical hope from Pastor Jia Starr Brown at First Covenant Church Minneapolis. In a world where very little is making sense- why not pray for discomfort, anger, tears and foolishness to be the unlikely vessels of blessing that anchor us through this storm?
“May God bless you with discomfort
Discomfort at easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships
Discomfort so that you will live deep within your heart
May God bless you with anger
Anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people
Anger so you will work for justice, for freedom and for peace
May God bless you with tears
Tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, starvation and war
Tears so that you will reach out to comfort them and the turn their pain into joy
And may God bless you with foolishness
Foolishness to believe you can make a difference in this world
Foolishness so that you will do what others claims cannot be done
May it be so.”